A former Ohio music pastor and “American Idol” contestant has been sentenced to life without possibility of parole for killing his wife in their Dayton-area home earlier this year.

Caleb Flynn, 40, was found guilty of aggravated murder in the February shooting of Ashley Flynn, 37, a schoolteacher and volleyball coach. Flynn and their two daughters were home when police arrived.

He maintained his innocence on Monday, crying and shaking as he read a statement to his family and Ashley’s.

“I loved her and loved her. She was my wife. She was beautiful and amazing in countless ways,” Flynn said. “I will continue to fight for my innocence as long as the Lord allows me to, since I did not kill my wife.”

To his two children, Flynn apologized and said they are his greatest joy in life. To his parents, he thanked them for their love and kindness and said their support throughout the trial was “supernatural.”

“I never knew that love this fierce was possible until the moment that I held you for the first time,” Flynn said to his daughters. “Please know your daddy is so proud of you and loves you beyond what words can describe.”

Ashley Flynn’s sister, Kayla Keyt, said her family could not overcome their sense of shock and despair after learning that Flynn betrayed them in such a violent and horrible way, Keyt said during her victim statement.

“We trusted you. We believed in you. We honestly would have laid down our lives for you,” Keyt said.

Prosecutors said Flynn’s wife was defenseless in bed with he shot her and then feigned a home invasion to mislead investigators.

Flynn frantically called 911 and said someone had broken in while he slept on the couch. He woke up to the sound of gunshots, he told investigators.

He said that a day before the killing, a man had come to their home and handed his wife an American flag while making a “weird sales pitch for America.”

But Flynn’s mistress Alleigha Botner testified in court that he talked about hating his wife and having thoughts of killing her. Jurors heard AI-generated love songs that prosecutors say he made for Botner and some of the more than 100,000 text messages that authorities say they exchanged.

Miami County Prosecuting Attorney Paul Watkins read a statement to the court and shook his head as prosecutors said he endangered his children’s lives when he killed his wife while they were home.

“This case is about deliberate choices, the destruction of an irreplaceable life, and the permanent devastation left behind,” he said.

“The defendant has never accepted responsibility or expressed genuine remorse for the life he ended,” Watkins added.